AI Detector Deepseek

AI Detector Deepseek — independent reviews, comparisons, pricing and step-by-step guides on Aizhi.

  • Apache Pig

    Apache Pig

    Apache Pig is a high-level platform for creating programs that run on Apache Hadoop. The language for this platform is called Pig Latin. Pig can execute its Hadoop jobs in MapReduce, Apache Tez, or Apache Spark. Pig Latin abstracts the programming from the Java MapReduce idiom into a notation which makes MapReduce programming high level, similar to that of SQL for relational database management systems. Pig Latin can be extended using user-defined functions (UDFs) which the user can write in Java, Python, JavaScript, Ruby or Groovy and then call directly from the language. == History == Apache Pig was originally developed at Yahoo Research around 2006 for researchers to have an ad hoc way of creating and executing MapReduce jobs on very large data sets. In 2007, it was moved into the Apache Software Foundation. === Naming === Regarding the naming of the Pig programming language, the name was chosen arbitrarily and stuck because it was memorable, easy to spell, and for novelty. The story goes that the researchers working on the project initially referred to it simply as 'the language'. Eventually they needed to call it something. Off the top of his head, one researcher suggested Pig, and the name stuck. It is quirky yet memorable and easy to spell. While some have hinted that the name sounds coy or silly, it has provided us with an entertaining nomenclature, such as Pig Latin for the language, Grunt for the shell, and PiggyBank for the CPAN-like shared repository. == Example == Below is an example of a "Word Count" program in Pig Latin: The above program will generate parallel executable tasks which can be distributed across multiple machines in a Hadoop cluster to count the number of words in a dataset such as all the webpages on the internet. == Pig vs SQL == In comparison to SQL, Pig has a nested relational model, uses lazy evaluation, uses extract, transform, load (ETL), is able to store data at any point during a pipeline, declares execution plans, supports pipeline splits, thus allowing workflows to proceed along DAGs instead of strictly sequential pipelines. On the other hand, it has been argued DBMSs are substantially faster than the MapReduce system once the data is loaded, but that loading the data takes considerably longer in the database systems. It has also been argued RDBMSs offer out of the box support for column-storage, working with compressed data, indexes for efficient random data access, and transaction-level fault tolerance. Pig Latin is procedural and fits very naturally in the pipeline paradigm while SQL is instead declarative. In SQL users can specify that data from two tables must be joined, but not what join implementation to use (You can specify the implementation of JOIN in SQL, thus "... for many SQL applications the query writer may not have enough knowledge of the data or enough expertise to specify an appropriate join algorithm."). Pig Latin allows users to specify an implementation or aspects of an implementation to be used in executing a script in several ways. In effect, Pig Latin programming is similar to specifying a query execution plan, making it easier for programmers to explicitly control the flow of their data processing task. SQL is oriented around queries that produce a single result. SQL handles trees naturally, but has no built in mechanism for splitting a data processing stream and applying different operators to each sub-stream. Pig Latin script describes a directed acyclic graph (DAG) rather than a pipeline. Pig Latin's ability to include user code at any point in the pipeline is useful for pipeline development. If SQL is used, data must first be imported into the database, and then the cleansing and transformation process can begin.

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  • Plug computer

    Plug computer

    A plug computer is a small-form-factor computer whose chassis contains the AC power plug, and thus plugs directly into the wall. Alternatively, the computer may resemble an AC adapter or a similarly small device. Plug computers are often configured for use in the home or office as compact computer. == Description == Plug computers consist of a high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip processor, with several I/O hardware ports (USB ports, Ethernet connectors, etc.). Most versions do not have provisions for connecting a display and are best suited to running media servers, back-up services, or file sharing and remote access functions; thus acting as a bridge between in-home protocols (such as Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) and Server Message Block (SMB)) and cloud-based services. There are, however, plug computer offerings that have analog VGA monitor and/or HDMI connectors, which, along with multiple USB ports, permit the use of a display, keyboard, and mouse, thus making them full-fledged, low-power alternatives to desktop and laptop computers. They typically run any of a number of Linux distributions. Plug computers typically consume little power and are inexpensive. == History == A number of other devices of this type began to appear at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show. On January 6, 2009 CTERA Networks launched a device called CloudPlug that provides online backup at local disk speeds and overlays a file sharing service. The device also transforms any external USB hard drive into a network-attached storage device. On January 7, 2009, Cloud Engines unveiled the Pogoplug network access server. On January 8, 2009, Axentra announced availability of their HipServ platform. On February 23, 2009, Marvell Technology Group announced its plans to build a mini-industry around plug computers. On August 19, 2009, CodeLathe announced availability of their TonidoPlug network access server. On November 13, 2009 QuadAxis launched its plug computing device product line and development platform, featuring the QuadPlug and QuadPC and running QuadMix, a modified Linux. On January 5, 2010, Iomega announced their iConnect network access server. On January 7, 2010 Pbxnsip launched its plug computing device the sipJack running pbxnsip: an IP Communications platform.

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  • Business Controls Corporation

    Business Controls Corporation

    Business Controls Corporation is a privately held computer company that developed an application-program-generator and also a series of accounting software packages. These packages were widely enough used for various business magazines to have back-of-the-book ads for companies seeking accountants with experience in one or more of them. Computer magazines ran coverage for their SB-5 application-program-generator as from time to time new versions were released, each with new or improved features. == Early days == The company's initial offerings were packages for the DEC PDP-8, although Business Controls Corporation also wrote custom-written programs for customers. Large customers with mainframes who also used smaller systems for departmental use and distributed processing also used BCC's services. == SB-5 == The addition of an application-program-generator named SB-5 that, from specifications, could generate COBOL code was a major step forward. Although this began with supporting the DEC PDP-11, they subsequently began to support COBOL on DEC's DECsystem-10 & DECSYSTEM-20. VAX support came later. The specifications also permitted COBOL inserts and overrides: SB-5 could build an application that was all COBOL, yet only code the portions that varied from BCC's "vanilla" accounting packages. === Similar offerings === A similar idea was done for the IBM mainframe world in the form of a series of application-program-generators from Dylakor Corporation. They were named DYL-250, DYL-260, DYL-270 & DYL-280. Dylakor was acquired by Computer Associates. The specific syntax was different, but it had wider use, and - a mark of success and recognition in the industry - syntax-compatible implementations were released by a competitor. Still another alternative was Peat Marwick Mitchell's PMM2170 application-program-generator package. Like the others, it supported COBOL inserts and overrides. === Extended integration === Business Controls Corporation subsequently extended SB-5's feature set to provide support for System 1022, a product for the DECsystem-10 & DECSYSTEM-20; 1022's vendor also had a VAX/VMS (later OpenVMS) product, System 1032.

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  • WiPay

    WiPay

    WiPay is a Caribbean-based payment technology company that specializes in electronic payments for businesses. WiPay was founded in 2016 by Aldwyn Wayne Jr., a Trinidadian businessman and graduate of Georgia Tech Institute. In September 2019, WiPay partnered with MasterCard. As a result, WiPay became the only licensed Payment Facilitator (PAYFAC) on both the MasterCard and Visa networks in the region.

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  • No Thanks (app)

    No Thanks (app)

    No Thanks is a Palestinian boycott-awareness mobile application developed by Palestinian software engineer Ahmed Bashbash, created to assist consumers in identifying and boycotting products associated with companies linked to Israel. Launched in 13 November 2023, the app gained significant attention amid the Gaza–Israel conflict. == History == No Thanks is a mobile application developed by Ahmed Bashbash, a Palestinian software engineer from Gaza residing in Hungary. The app was conceived in October 2023 following the death of Bashbash's brother in an Israeli airstrike on October 31, 2023. His sister had previously died in 2020 due to delayed medical treatment. The app was officially launched on November 13, 2023, and quickly gained traction, got over 100,000 downloads within its first month of release. On November 30, 2023, Google removed the app from its Play Store due to a violation of its content policies. The app's home page included a description: "Welcome to No Thanks, here you can see if the product in your hand supports killing children in Palestine or not," which was deemed to contravene Google's guidelines on hate speech and sensitive content. On December 3, 2023, following changes to the app's description, Google reinstated the app.

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  • Kubity

    Kubity

    Kubity is a cloud-based 3D communication tool that works on desktop computers, the web, smartphones, tablets, augmented reality gear, and virtual reality glasses. Kubity is powered by several proprietary 3D processing engines including "Paragone" and "Etna" that prepare the 3D file for transfer over mobile devices. Kubity has practical applications for architecture, interior design, engineering, product design, film, and video games among others. The majority of its users create 3D models using SketchUp or Autodesk Revit software. Kubity products include the Kubity web app and Kubity Go (a mobile application for iOS and Android). Kubity is compatible across many platforms, devices and operating systems including: iOS, Android, Firefox, Chrome, Windows, MacOS, and Linux. == History == Kubity was created by SPK Technology (ex Kubity S.A.S.), a Paris-based software company specializing in automatic 3D data optimization and visualization. Founded in 2012 by a group of software engineers and an urban projects developer, they united around a simple idea: create a way for anyone, anywhere to simply and intuitively explore 3D models on smartphones and computers. In order to bring architects, engineers and designers together with their clients around a 3D model, it was essential to develop an interactive platform that supported multiple desktop and mobile devices for instantaneous and fluid 3D navigation. With specifications in place, 15 engineers fused together several technologies: 3D design, data compression, decimation and rendering optimization, web and mobile transfer, and virtual reality headset integration. In January 2014, the first public Kubity prototype (1.0 Amethyst) was launched to a small group of beta testers with a plug-in that allowed users to import 3D models from SketchUp to their browser. A global release was announced in April 2014 at the SketchUp Basecamp in Vail, Colorado. In May 2015, Kubity launched a web application that worked using WebGL technology (2.0 Citrine). For the first time, users were able to drag and drop any SketchUp file in a web browser without having to install a plug-in. In December 2015, Kubity launched a mobile application on the App Store for iPhone, iPod, and iPad as well as on Google Play for Android devices (3.0 Druzy). In November 2016, Kubity launched support for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive (4.0 Emerald). Beginning in November 2017, Kubity launched a full suite rollout of mobile applications over six months that included Kubity AR for augmented reality, Kubity VR for virtual reality, and Kubity Mirror for remote presentations and screen mirroring (5.0 Feldspar). In September 2018, a one-click plugin for SketchUp and Revit (Kubity PRO), along with a mobile-first revamp of Kubity Go was launched, allowing PRO-to-Go device pairing for automatic mobile sync (6.0 Gypsum). In early 2019, the Kubity Go application was updated to include fully integrated AR, VR, and screen mirroring functionalities, killing off the dedicated companion apps Kubity AR, Kubity VR and Kubity Mirror in the process (7.0 Heliotrope). In January 2020, support for the Kubity PRO plugin for SketchUp and Revit was migrated to a SketchUp-only web app. == Technology == Kubity is powered by a proprietary 3D crystallization engine known as "Paragone"; a technology developed by SPK Technology. Paragone takes constrained information from a 3D file and runs it through the "BlockWave" algorithm (US Patent 10,482.629), also developed by SPK Technology. BlockWave is a multiphase optimization algorithm that combines 3D design, data compression, decimation and rendering optimization, web and mobile transfer, and mixed reality headset integration to create a crystallized universal format of the original file. One phase of the BlockWave algorithm is based on the quadric-based polygonal surface simplification algorithm, performed using predefined heuristics, and is associated with a plurality of simplified versions of the 3D model, each version being associated with a predefined level of detail adapted to the user specific end device. BlockWave extracts data content, geometry and textures, then sets quadrics for each top of the original 3D model, and identifies pairs of adjacent tops linked by vertices. The algorithm uses a local collapsing operator and a top-plan error metric to obtain a fixed number of faces or a maximum defined error; 3D meshing is simplified by replacing two points with one, then deleting the degrading faces and updating adjacent relations. Once decimation is completed, texture optimization is set using texture target parameters allowing maximized GPU memory to improve computing time. With texture encoding completed, the crystallized universal 3D file can now be easily opened on any user-specific end device and played across most digital devices with real-time rendering. == Features == === 3D Crystallization === A user converts (or crystallizes) a 3D file by exporting it with the Kubity web app. Crystallization adds features like AR/VR and cinematic fly-through tour as well as assigns the model a dedicated QR code. === Automatic Mobile Sync === When a 3D model is exported, it is automatically synced to Kubity Go on the user's mobile device. From there, it can be accessed, explored, and shared with others with or without an internet connection. === Security and Management === User models can be managed all in one place on Kubity Go or in a browser from their account. Models can be renamed, password-protected, shared, and played. === Augmented Reality === Developed using Apple ARKit and Google ARCore technology, Kubity Go's augmented reality feature maps the environment in a room detecting horizontal planes like tables and floors to track and place 3D objects. By blending digital objects and information with the environment, Kubity allows users to interact with 3D models in true augmented reality. Built-in communication features allows users to instantly share 3D models with anyone over text, email, social media, or direct device-to-device with a QR Code. Platform Support AR supports devices running iOS11 including: iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone X, all iPad Pro models, and iPad (2017). AR for Android requires Android 7.0 or later and access to the Google Play Store. === Virtual Reality === VR allows users to explore SketchUp models and Revit projects on-the-go right from a mobile device using Oculus Go, Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VR, or the glasses-free Magic Window feature. Kubity's virtual reality feature is compatible with Oculus Go, Google Cardboard viewers and other cardboard compatible devices including clip-on style VR glasses like Homido Mini, as well as the mobile virtual reality headset, Samsung Gear VR. Samsung Gear VR supports: Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge+, Samsung Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, Samsung Galaxy Note Fan Edition, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Samsung Galaxy A8/A8+ (2018), and Samsung Galaxy S9/Galaxy S9+. === Screen Mirroring === Screen mirroring allows a user to sync the sender device to a receiver on a webpage, then control from the sender device to give a remote presentation of the 3D model. Devices are easily synced by entering a six-digit number displayed on the receiving computer. == Platform support == On iOS, the Kubity application is compatible with devices running on the version 9.0 or higher. On Android, Kubity is compatible with devices running on the version 4.4 “Kit Kat” or higher. The web version of Kubity applications currently support web browsers compatible with WebGL2 : Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. AR is compatible with devices running iOS11 including: iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone X, all iPad Pro models, and iPad (2017), and Android devices. Requires Android 7.0 or later and access to the Google Play Store. VR is compatible with Google Cardboard viewers and other cardboard compatible devices including clip-on style VR glasses like Homido Mini, as well as the Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Go. Samsung Gear VR supports: Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge+, Samsung Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, Samsung Galaxy Note Fan Edition, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Samsung Galaxy A8/A8+ (2018) and Samsung Galaxy S9/Galaxy S9+.

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  • Cloud manufacturing

    Cloud manufacturing

    Cloud manufacturing (CMfg) is a new manufacturing paradigm developed from existing advanced manufacturing models (e.g., ASP, AM, NM, MGrid) and enterprise information technologies under the support of cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), virtualization and service-oriented technologies, and advanced computing technologies. It transforms manufacturing resources and manufacturing capabilities into manufacturing services, which can be managed and operated in an intelligent and unified way to enable the full sharing and circulating of manufacturing resources and manufacturing capabilities. CMfg can provide safe and reliable, high quality, cheap and on-demand manufacturing services for the whole lifecycle of manufacturing. The concept of manufacturing here refers to big manufacturing that includes the whole lifecycle of a product (e.g. design, simulation, production, test, maintenance). The concept of Cloud manufacturing was initially proposed by the research group led by Prof. Bo Hu Li and Prof. Lin Zhang in China in 2010. Related discussions and research were conducted hereafter, and some similar definitions (e.g. Cloud-Based Design and Manufacturing (CBDM). ) to cloud manufacturing were introduced. Cloud manufacturing is a type of parallel, networked, and distributed system consisting of an integrated and inter-connected virtualized service pool (manufacturing cloud) of manufacturing resources and capabilities as well as capabilities of intelligent management and on-demand use of services to provide solutions for all kinds of users involved in the whole lifecycle of manufacturing. == Types == Cloud Manufacturing can be divided into two categories. The first category concerns deploying manufacturing software on the Cloud, i.e. a “manufacturing version” of Computing. CAx software can be supplied as a service on the Manufacturing Cloud (MCloud). The second category has a broader scope, cutting across production, management, design and engineering abilities in a manufacturing business. Unlike with computing and data storage, manufacturing involves physical equipment, monitors, materials and so on. In this kind of Cloud Manufacturing system, both material and non-material facilities are implemented on the Manufacturing Cloud to support the whole supply chain. Costly resources are shared on the network. This means that the utilisation rate of rarely used equipment rises and the cost of expensive equipment is reduced. According to the concept of Cloud technology, there will not be direct interaction between Cloud Users and Service Providers. The Cloud User should neither manage nor control the infrastructure and manufacturing applications. As a matter of fact, the former can be considered part of the latter. In CMfg system, various manufacturing resources and abilities can be intelligently sensed and connected into wider Internet, and automatically managed and controlled using IoT technologies (e.g., RFID, wired and wireless sensor network, embedded system). Then the manufacturing resources and abilities are virtualized and encapsulated into different manufacturing cloud services (MCSs), that can be accessed, invoked, and deployed based on knowledge by using virtualization technologies, service-oriented technologies, and cloud computing technologies. The MCSs are classified and aggregated according to specific rules and algorithms, and different kinds of manufacturing clouds are constructed. Different users can search and invoke the qualified MCSs from related manufacturing cloud according to their needs, and assemble them to be a virtual manufacturing environment or solution to complete their manufacturing task involved in the whole life cycle of manufacturing processes under the support of cloud computing, service-oriented technologies, and advanced computing technologies. Four types of cloud deployment modes (public, private, community and hybrid clouds) are ubiquitous as a single point of access. Private cloud refers to a centralized management effort in which manufacturing services are shared within one company or its subsidiaries. Enterprises' mission-critical and core-business applications are often kept in a private cloud. Community cloud is a collaborative effort in which manufacturing services are shared between several organizations from a specific community with common concerns. Public cloud realizes the key concept of sharing services with the general public in a multi-tenant environment. Hybrid cloud is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community or public) that remain distinct entities but are also bound together, offering the benefits of multiple deployment modes. == Resources == From the resource’s perspective, each kind of manufacturing capability requires support from the related manufacturing resource. For each type of manufacturing capability, its related manufacturing resource comes in two forms, soft resources and hard resources. === Soft resources === Software: software applications throughout the product lifecycle including design, analysis, simulation, process planning, and are only beginning to be embraced by the electronics manufacturing industry. Knowledge: experience and know-how needed to complete a production task, i.e. engineering knowledge, product models, standards, evaluation procedures and results, customer feedback, and manufacturing in the cloud provides just as many solutions as the number of questions it also raises for manufacturing executives wanting to make the best possible decision. Skill: expertise in performing a specific manufacturing task. Personnel: human resource engaged in the manufacturing process, i.e. designers, operators, managers, technicians, project teams, customer service, etc. Experience: performance, quality, client evaluation, etc. Business Network: business relationships and business opportunity networks that exist in an enterprise. === Hard resources === Manufacturing Equipment: facilities needed for completing a manufacturing task, e.g. machine tools, cutters, test and monitoring equipment and other fabrication tools. Monitoring/Control Resource: devices used to identify and control other manufacturing resource, for instance, RFID (Radio-Frequency IDentification), WSN (Wireless Sensor Network), virtual managers and remote controllers. Computational Resource: computing devices to support production process, e.g. servers, computers, storage media, control devices, etc. Materials: inputs and outputs in a production system, e.g. raw material, product-in-progress, finished product, power, water, lubricants, etc. Storage: automated storage and retrieval systems, logic controllers, location of warehouses, volume capacity and schedule/optimization methods. Transportation: movement of manufacturing inputs/outputs from one location to another. It includes the modes of transport, e.g. air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline and space, and the related price, and time taken.

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  • Pandas (software)

    Pandas (software)

    Pandas (styled as pandas) is a software library written for the Python programming language for data manipulation and analysis. In particular, it offers data structures and operations for manipulating numerical tables and time series. It is free software released under the three-clause BSD license. The name is derived from the term "panel data", an econometrics term for data sets that include observations over multiple time periods for the same individuals, as well as a play on the phrase "Python data analysis". Wes McKinney started building what would become Pandas at AQR Capital while he was a researcher there from 2007 to 2010. The development of Pandas introduced into Python many comparable features of working with DataFrames that were established in the R programming language. The library is built upon another library, NumPy. == History == Developer Wes McKinney started working on Pandas in 2008 while at AQR Capital Management out of the need for a high performance, flexible tool to perform quantitative analysis on financial data. Before leaving AQR, he was able to convince management to allow him to open source the library in 2009. Another AQR employee, Chang She, joined the effort in 2012 as the second major contributor to the library. In 2015, Pandas signed on as a fiscally sponsored project of NumFOCUS, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity in the United States. == Data model == Pandas is built around data structures called Series and DataFrames. Data for these collections can be imported from various file formats such as comma-separated values, JSON, Parquet, SQL database tables or queries, and Microsoft Excel. === Series === A Series is a one-dimensional array-like object that stores a sequence of values together with an associated set of labels, called an index. It is built on top of NumPy's array and affords many similar functionalities, but instead of using implicit integer positions, a Series allows explicit index labels of many data types. A Series can be created from Python lists, dictionaries, or NumPy arrays. If no index is provided, pandas automatically assigns a default integer index ranging from 0 to n-1, where n is the number of items in the Series. A simple example with customized labels is: To access a value or list of values from a Series, use its index or list of indices: Series can be used arithmetically, as in the statement series_3 = series_1 + series_2. This will align data points with corresponding index values in series_1 and series_2 (similar to a join in relational algebra), then add them together to produce new values in series_3. A Series has various attributes, such as name (Series name), dtype (data type of values), shape (number of rows), values, and index. They can be used in many of the same operations as NumPy arrays, with additional methods for reindexing, label-based selection, and handling missing data. === DataFrame === A DataFrame is a two-dimensional, tabular data structure with labeled rows and columns. Each column is stored internally as a Series and may hold a different data type (numeric, string, boolean, etc.). DataFrames can be created by a variety of means, including dictionaries of lists, NumPy arrays, and external files such as CSV or Excel spreadsheets: To retrieve a DataFrame column as a Series, use either 1) the index (dict-like notation) or 2) the name of column if the name is a valid Python identifier (attribute-like access). DataFrames support operations such as column assignment, row and column deletion, label-based indexing with loc, position-based indexing with iloc, reshaping, grouping, and joining. Merge operations implement a subset of relational algebra and allow one-to-one, many-to-one, and many-to-many joins. Some common attributes of a DataFrame include dtypes (data type of each column), shape (dimensions of the DataFrame returned as a tuple with form (number of rows, number of columns)), index/columns (labels of the DataFrame's rows/columns, respectively, returned as an Index object), values (data in the DataFrame returned as a 2D array), and empty (returns True if the DataFrame is empty). === Index === Index objects hold metadata for Series and Dataframe objects, such as axis labels and names, and are automatically created from input data. By default, a pandas index is a series of integers ascending from 0, similar to the indices of Python arrays. However, indices can also use any NumPy data type, including floating point, timestamps, or strings. Indices are also immutable, which allows them to be safely shared across multiple objects. pandas' syntax for mapping index values to relevant data is the same syntax Python uses to map dictionary keys to values. For example, if s is a Series, s['a'] will return the data point at index a. Unlike dictionary keys, index values are not guaranteed to be unique. If a Series uses the index value a for multiple data points, then s['a'] will instead return a new Series containing all matching values. A DataFrame's column names are stored and implemented identically to an index. As such, a DataFrame can be thought of as having two indices: one column-based and one row-based. Because column names are stored as an index, these are not required to be unique. If data is a Series, then data['a'] returns all values with the index value of a. However, if data is a DataFrame, then data['a'] returns all values in the column(s) named a. To avoid this ambiguity, Pandas supports the syntax data.loc['a'] as an alternative way to filter using the index. Pandas also supports the syntax data.iloc[n], which always takes an integer n and returns the nth value, counting from 0. This allows a user to act as though the index is an array-like sequence of integers, regardless of how it is actually defined. pandas also supports hierarchical indices with multiple values per data point through the "MultiIndex" class. MultiIndex objects allow a single DataFrame to represent multiple dimensions, similar to a pivot table in Microsoft Excel, where each level can optionally carry its own unique name. In practice, data with more than 2 dimensions is often represented using DataFrames with hierarchical indices, instead of the higher-dimension Panel and Panel4D data structures. == Functionality == pandas supports a variety of indexing and subsetting techniques, allowing data to be selected by label, index, or Boolean conditions. For example, df[df['col1'] > 5] will return all rows in the DataFrame df for which the value of the column col1 exceeds 5. The library also implements grouping operations based on the split-apply-combine approach, enabling users to aggregate, transform, or restructure data according to column values or functions applied to index labels. For example, df['col1'].groupby(df['col2']) groups the data in 'col1' by their values in 'col2', while df.groupby(lambda i: i % 2) groups all data in the whole DataFrame by whether their index is even. The library also provides extensive tools for transforming, filtering and summarizing data. Users may apply arbitrary functions to Series and DataFrames, and because the library is built on top of Numpy, most NumPy functions can be applied directly to pandas objects as well. The library also includes built-in operations for arithmetic operations, string processing, and descriptive statistics such as mean, median, and standard deviation. These built-in functions are designed to handle missing data, usually represented by the floating-point value NaN. In addition, pandas includes tools for reorganizing data into different structural formats, with methods that can reshape tabular data between "wide" and "long" formats and pivot values based on column labels. pandas also implements a flexible set of relational operations for combining datasets. For instance, merge() links row in DataFrames based on one or more shared keys or indices, supporting one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many relationships in a manner analogous to join operations in relational databases like SQL. DataFrames can also be concatenated or stacked together along an axis through the concat() method, and overlapping data can be further spliced together using combine_first() to fill in missing values. Furthermore, the library includes specialized support for working with time-series data. Features include the ability to interpolate values and filter using a range of timestamps, such as data['1/1/2023':'2/2/2023'] , which will return all dates between January 1 and February 2. Missing values in time-series data are represented by a dedicated NaT (Not a Timestamp) object, instead of the NaN value it uses elsewhere. == Criticisms == Pandas has been criticized for its inefficiency. The entire dataset must be loaded in RAM, and the library does not optimize query plans or support parallel computing across multiple cores. Wes McKinney, the creator of Pandas, has recommended Apache Arrow as an alternative to address these performance concerns and ot

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  • Graph cuts in computer vision and artificial intelligence

    Graph cuts in computer vision and artificial intelligence

    As applied in the field of computer vision, graph cut optimization can be employed to efficiently solve a wide variety of low-level computer vision problems (early vision), such as image smoothing, the stereo correspondence problem, image segmentation, object co-segmentation, numerous military applications (eg Automatic target recognition) and many other problems that can be formulated in terms of energy minimization (eg Climate Science and Environmental modelling). Graph cut techniques are now increasingly being used in combination with more general spatial Artificial intelligence techniques (eg to enforce structure in Large language model output to sharpen tumour boundaries and similarly for various Augmented reality, Self-driving car, Robotics, Google Maps applications etc). Many of these energy minimization problems can be approximated by solving a maximum flow problem in a graph (and thus, by the max-flow min-cut theorem, define a minimal cut of the graph). Under most formulations of such problems in computer vision, the minimum energy solution corresponds to the maximum a posteriori estimate of a solution. Although many computer vision algorithms involve cutting a graph (e.g. normalized cuts), the term "graph cuts" is applied specifically to those models which employ a max-flow/min-cut optimization (other graph cutting algorithms may be considered as graph partitioning algorithms). "Binary" problems (such as denoising a binary image) can be solved exactly using this approach; problems where pixels can be labeled with more than two different labels (such as stereo correspondence, or denoising of a grayscale image) cannot be solved exactly, but solutions produced are usually near the global optimum. == History == The foundational theory of graph cuts in computer vision was first developed by Margaret Greig, Bruce Porteous and Allan Seheult (GPS) of Durham University in a now legendary discussion contribution to Julian Besag's 1986 paper and a more detailed follow on paper in 1989. In the Bayesian statistical context of smoothing noisy images, using a Markov random field as the image prior distribution, they showed with a mathematically beautiful proof how the maximum a posteriori estimate of a binary image can be obtained exactly by maximizing the flow through an associated image network, or graph, involving the introduction of a source and sink and Log-likelihood ratios. The problem was shown to be efficiently solvable exactly, an unexpected result as the problem was believed to be computationally intractable (NP hard). GPS also addressed the computational cost of the max-flow algorithm on large graphs, a significant concern at the time. They proposed a partitioning algorithm (see Section 4 of GPS) involving the recursive amalgamation of non-overlapping blocks, or tiles, which gave a 12X increase in speed. This approach recursively solved and amalgamated independent sub-graphs until the whole graph was solved. While contemporaries like Geman and Geman had advocated Parallel computing in the context of Simulated annealing, the GPS blocking strategy offered a deterministic structure amenable to parallelisation and anticipated modern artificial intelligence design across multiple GPUs. However, until recently, this aspect of the paper was largely ignored and subsequent research focused on Serial computer global search trees, such as the Boykov-Kolmogorov algorithm. Although the general k {\displaystyle k} -colour problem is NP hard for k > 2 , {\displaystyle k>2,} the GPS approach has turned out to have very wide applicability in general computer vision problems. This was first demonstrated by Boykov, Veksler and Zabih who, in a seminal paper published more than 10 years after the original GPS paper, and in other important works, lit the blue touch paper for the general adoption of graph cut techniques in computer vision. They showed that, for general problems, the GPS approach can be applied iteratively to sequences of binary problems, using their now ubiquitous alpha-expansion algorithm, yielding near optimal solutions. Prior to these results, approximate local optimisation techniques such as simulated annealing (as proposed by the Geman brothers) or iterated conditional modes (a type of greedy algorithm suggested by Julian Besag) were used to solve such image smoothing problems. Building on these advancements, GPS graph cut optimization was subsequently adapted for interactive image segmentation, most notably through the "GrabCut" algorithm introduced by Carsten Rother, Vladimir Kolmogorov, and Andrew Blake of Microsoft Research, Cambridge. GrabCut extended earlier interactive graph cut methods by replacing monochrome image histograms with Gaussian mixture models to estimate colour distributions, and by employing an iterative GPS energy minimisation scheme. This approach significantly simplified user interaction, requiring only a rough bounding box around the target object rather than detailed user-drawn strokes, and it quickly became a standard tool in both academic research and commercial image editing software. The GPS paper connected and bridged profound ideas from Mathematical statistics (Bayes' theorem, Markov random field), Physics (Ising model), Optimisation (Energy function) and Computer science (Network flow problem) and led the move away from approximate local and slow optimisation approaches (eg simulated annealing) to more powerful exact, or near exact, faster global optimisation techniques. It is now recognised as seminal as it was well ahead of its time and, in particular, was published years before the computing power revolution of Moore's law and GPUs. Significantly, GPS was published in a mathematical statistics (rather than a computer vision) journal, and this led to it being overlooked by the computer vision community for many years. It is unofficially known as "The Velvet Underground" paper of computer vision (ie although very few computer vision people read the paper [bought the record], those that did, most importantly Boykov, Veksler and Zabih, started new and important research [formed a band]). This is confirmed by GPS' very large amplification ratio (2nd order citations/first order citations), estimated at well in excess of 100. Despite the foundational nature of the GPS work, formal recognition from the computer vision community has predominantly gone to the researchers who followed to extend and popularise the graph cut method. For example, Boykov, Veksler and Zabih deservedly received a Helmholtz Prize from the ICCV in 2011. This prize recognises ICCV papers from 10 or more years earlier that have had a significant impact on computer vision research. In 2011, Couprie et al. proposed a general image segmentation framework, called the "Power Watershed", that minimized a real-valued indicator function from [0,1] over a graph, constrained by user seeds (or unary terms) set to 0 or 1, in which the minimization of the indicator function over the graph is optimized with respect to an exponent p {\displaystyle p} . When p = 1 {\displaystyle p=1} , the Power Watershed is optimized by graph cuts, when p = 0 {\displaystyle p=0} the Power Watershed is optimized by shortest paths, p = 2 {\displaystyle p=2} is optimized by the random walker algorithm and p = ∞ {\displaystyle p=\infty } is optimized by the watershed algorithm. In this way, the Power Watershed may be viewed as a generalization of graph cuts that provides a straightforward connection with other energy optimization segmentation/clustering algorithms. == Binary segmentation of images == === Notation === Image: x ∈ { R , G , B } N {\displaystyle x\in \{R,G,B\}^{N}} Output: Segmentation (also called opacity) S ∈ R N {\displaystyle S\in R^{N}} (soft segmentation). For hard segmentation S ∈ { 0 for background , 1 for foreground/object to be detected } N {\displaystyle S\in \{0{\text{ for background}},1{\text{ for foreground/object to be detected}}\}^{N}} Energy function: E ( x , S , C , λ ) {\displaystyle E(x,S,C,\lambda )} where C is the color parameter and λ is the coherence parameter. E ( x , S , C , λ ) = E c o l o r + E c o h e r e n c e {\displaystyle E(x,S,C,\lambda )=E_{\rm {color}}+E_{\rm {coherence}}} Optimization: The segmentation can be estimated as a global minimum over S: arg ⁡ min S E ( x , S , C , λ ) {\displaystyle {\arg \min }_{S}E(x,S,C,\lambda )} === Existing methods === Standard Graph cuts: optimize energy function over the segmentation (unknown S value). Iterated Graph cuts: First step optimizes over the color parameters using K-means. Second step performs the usual graph cuts algorithm. These 2 steps are repeated recursively until convergence Dynamic graph cuts:Allows to re-run the algorithm much faster after modifying the problem (e.g. after new seeds have been added by a user). === Energy function === Pr ( x ∣ S ) = K − E {\displaystyle \Pr(x\mid S)=K^{-E}} where the energy E {\displaystyle E} is composed of two different mod

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  • Django (web framework)

    Django (web framework)

    Django ( JANG-goh; sometimes stylized as django) is a free and open-source, Python-based web framework that runs on a web server. It follows the model–template–views (MTV) architectural pattern. It is maintained by the Django Software Foundation (DSF), an independent organization established in the US as a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Django's primary goal is to ease the creation of complex, database-driven websites. The framework emphasizes reusability and "pluggability" of components, less code, low coupling, rapid development, and the principle of don't repeat yourself. Python is used throughout, even for settings, files, and data models. Django also provides an optional administrative create, read, update and delete interface that is generated dynamically through introspection and configured via admin models. Some well-known sites that use Django include Instagram, Mozilla, Disqus, Bitbucket, Nextdoor, and Clubhouse. == History == Django was created in the autumn of 2003, when the web programmers at the Lawrence Journal-World newspaper, Adrian Holovaty and Simon Willison, began using Python to build applications. Jacob Kaplan-Moss was hired early in Django's development shortly before Willison's internship ended. It was released publicly under a BSD license in July 2005. The framework was named after guitarist Django Reinhardt. Holovaty is a romani jazz guitar player inspired in part by Reinhardt's music. In June 2008, it was announced that a newly formed Django Software Foundation (DSF) would maintain Django in the future. == Features == === Components === Despite having its own nomenclature, such as naming the callable objects generating the HTTP responses "views", the core Django framework can be seen as an MVC architecture. It consists of an object-relational mapper (ORM) that mediates between data models (defined as Python classes) and a relational database ("Model"), a system for processing HTTP requests with a web templating system ("View"), and a regular-expression-based URL dispatcher ("Controller"). Also included in the core framework are: a lightweight and standalone web server for development and testing a form serialization and validation system that can translate between HTML forms and values suitable for storage in the database a template system that utilizes the concept of inheritance borrowed from object-oriented programming a caching framework that can use any of several cache methods support for middleware classes that can intervene at various stages of request processing and carry out custom functions an internal dispatcher system that allows components of an application to communicate events to each other via pre-defined signals an internationalization system, including translations of Django's own components into a variety of languages a serialization system that can produce and read XML and/or JSON representations of Django model instances a system for extending the capabilities of the template engine an interface to Python's built-in unit test framework === Bundled applications === The main Django distribution also bundles a number of applications in its "contrib" package, including: an extensible authentication system the dynamic administrative interface tools for generating RSS and Atom syndication feeds a "Sites" framework that allows one Django installation to run multiple websites, each with their own content and applications tools for generating Sitemaps built-in mitigation for cross-site request forgery, cross-site scripting, SQL injection, password cracking and other typical web attacks, most of them turned on by default a framework for creating geographic information system (GIS) applications === Extensibility === Django's configuration system allows third-party code to be plugged into a regular project, provided that it follows the reusable app conventions. More than 5000 packages are available to extend the framework's original behavior, providing solutions to issues the original tool didn't tackle: registration, search, API provision and consumption, CMS, etc. This extensibility is, however, mitigated by internal components' dependencies. While the Django philosophy implies loose coupling, the template filters and tags assume one engine implementation, and both the auth and admin bundled applications require the use of the internal ORM. None of these filters or bundled apps are mandatory to run a Django project, but reusable apps tend to depend on them, encouraging developers to keep using the official stack in order to benefit fully from the apps ecosystem. === Server arrangements === Django can be run on ASGI or WSGI-compliant web servers. Django officially supports five database backends: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, and Oracle. Microsoft SQL Server can be used with mssql-django. == Version history == The Django team will occasionally designate certain releases to be "long-term support" (LTS) releases. LTS releases will get security and data loss fixes applied for a guaranteed period of time, typically 3+ years, regardless of the pace of releases afterwards. == Community == === DjangoCon === There is a semiannual conference for Django developers and users, named "DjangoCon", that has been held since September 2008. DjangoCon is held annually in Europe, in May or June; while another is held in the United States in August or September, in various cities. ==== United States ==== The 2012 DjangoCon took place in Washington, D.C., from September 3 to 8. 2013 DjangoCon was held in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and the post-conference Sprints were hosted at Digital Bootcamp, computer training center. The 2014 DjangoCon US returned to Portland, OR from August 30 to 6 September. The 2015 DjangoCon US was held in Austin, TX from September 6 to 11 at the AT&T Executive Center. The 2016 DjangoCon US was held in Philadelphia, PA at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania from July 17 to 22. The 2017 DjangoCon US was held in Spokane, WA; in 2018 DjangoCon US was held in San Diego, CA. DjangoCon US 2019 was held again in San Diego, CA from September 22 to 27. DjangoCon 2021 took place virtually and in 2022, DjangoCon US returned to San Diego from October 16 to 21. DjangoCon US 2023 was held from October 16 to 20 at the Durham, NC convention center and DjangoCon US 2024 took place also in Durham in September 22 to 27. DjangoCon US 2025 was held from September 8 to 12 in Chicago, Illinois. ==== Europe ==== The 2025 edition of DjangoCon Europe took place in Dublin, Ireland from 23 to 27 April. In 2024, the conference was hosted in Vigo, Spain. Edinburgh, Scotland served as the venue for DjangoCon Europe in 2023. The 2022 conference was organized in Porto, Portugal. In 2021, DjangoCon Europe was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 edition was also conducted as a fully virtual event. DjangoCon Europe 2019 was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 2018, the event took place in Heidelberg, Germany. The 2017 conference was convened in Florence, Italy. DjangoCon Europe 2012 was organized in Zurich, Switzerland. ==== Australia ==== Django mini-conferences are usually held every year as part of the Australian Python Conference 'PyCon AU'. Previously, these mini-conferences have been held in: Hobart, Australia, in July 2013, Brisbane, Australia, in August 2014 and 2015, Melbourne, Australia in August 2016 and 2017, and Sydney, Australia, in August 2018 and 2019. ==== Africa ==== The first DjangoCon Africa was held in Zanzibar, Tanzania, from 6 to 11 November 2023. The event hosted approximately 200 attendees from 22 countries, including 103 women. The conference featured 26 talks on topics such as software development, education, careers, accessibility, and agriculture, often highlighting perspectives from across the African continent. Future editions of the conference are planned, with details available on the official website === Community groups & programs === Django has spawned user groups and meetups around the world, a notable group is the Django Girls organization, which began in Poland but now has had events in 91 countries. Another initiative is Djangonaut Space, a mentorship program aimed at supporting new contributors to the Django ecosystem. The program pairs experienced mentors with developers to guide them through making meaningful contributions to Django and its community. It emphasizes long-term engagement, inclusion, and collaborative open-source development. == Ports to other languages == Programmers have ported Django's template engine design from Python to other languages, providing decent cross-platform support. Some of these options are more direct ports; others, though inspired by Django and retaining its concepts, take the liberty to deviate from Django's design: Liquid for Ruby Template::Swig for Perl Twig for PHP and JavaScript Jinja for Python ErlyDTL for Erlang == CMSs based on Django Framework == Django as a framework is capable of building a complete CMS

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  • Bring your own encryption

    Bring your own encryption

    Bring your own encryption (BYOE), also known as bring your own key (BYOK), is a cloud computing security model that allows cloud service customers to use their own encryption software and manage their own encryption keys. == Overview == BYOE enables cloud service customers to utilize a virtual instance of their encryption software alongside their cloud-hosted business applications to encrypt their data. In this model, hosted business applications are configured to process all data through the encryption software. This software then writes the ciphertext version of the data to the cloud service provider's physical data store and decrypts ciphertext data upon retrieval requests. This approach provides enterprises with control over their keys and the ability to generate their own master key using internal hardware security modules (HSM), which are then transmitted to the cloud provider's HSM. When the data is no longer needed, such as when users discontinue the cloud service, the keys can be deleted, rendering the encrypted data permanently inaccessible. This practice is known as crypto-shredding. == Potential Advantages == Organizations can store data with unique encryption that only they can access. Multiple organizations can share the same hardware infrastructure via cloud services like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Google Cloud while maintaining encryption to comply with regulations such as HIPAA. == Potential Challenges == Resource utilization may be higher compared to traditional encryption practices when multiple users share the same hardware and use their own encryption. Efforts to minimize resource utilization issues may potentially impact security benefits.

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  • Knowledge as a service

    Knowledge as a service

    Knowledge as a service (KaaS) is a computing service that delivers information to users, backed by a knowledge model, which might be drawn from a number of possible models based on decision trees, association rules, or neural networks. A knowledge as a service provider responds to knowledge requests from users through a centralised knowledge server, and provides an interface between users and data owners. KaaS is one of several cloud computing-dependent business models in which computer resources are sold on an on-demand and pay-as-you-use basis. == Overview == At the International Semantic Web Conference 2019, it was described how knowledge can be made live and evolve on the web allowing users to learn directly from elaborated knowledge, now appearing in the form of knowledge graphs. KaaS appear when knowledge graphs are accessed via services This is opposed to DaaS which might "compute large volumes of data; integrate and analyzes that data; and publish it in real-time, using Web service APIs" (from Data as a Service) where the KaaS is able to exploit context - both the context of the user in relation to their information requests of the KaaS (where and when they make the request) and also the context of the information in relation to some objective or purpose of the users either understood by the KaaS automatically or indicated to it by the user. == Differentiating knowledge from data == Conceptual models that make such a differentiation such as the so-called DIKW pyramid have existed for perhaps more than 40 years (see a 1974 journal article about this) however definitions are not stable and universally accepted (see the discussion about the conceptualizations of DIKW within the DIKW Wikipedia article that question value of wisdom). The knowledge component of DIKW is generally agreed to be an elusive concept which is difficult to define, however Rowley 2007, in a well known student textbook differentiated knowledge from data by stating that knowledge is "defined with reference to information" and that it contains more than just facts but also "beliefs and expectations". In relation to knowledge graphs, knowledge may be additional content they provide over and above pure data which is the definition of the categories, properties and relations between the concepts, data and entities that substantiate one, many or all domains of discourse (see the definition of Ontology). The ability to represent "beliefs and expectations", or other forms of not so straightforwardly explicit knowledge is an on-going area of improvement in information sciences (see Tacit knowledge) and, with relation to KaaS, the establishment of recent informatics mechanics to do so it critical to the legitimacy of KaaS as it is differentiated from just value-added DaaS. Knowledge graphs' ability to represent context via the definition of the categories, properties and relations between the concepts, data and entities that substantiate one, many or all domains of discourse that they provide (see the definition of Ontology) has led to the idea that supplying access to KNs might be a required competency of a KaaS. == Delivery of knowledge == Much service-delivered content is dependent on a session to provide much of the context that the user (client) needs to understand answers to questions. For example, using current HTTP internet protocols, a GET request to retrieve information identified by a URI, such as a web page, a client (a human or a machine) may have access information supplied automatically to enable that client to bypass paywalls or other content access controls. Such context, in this case about the client's information access allowances, can alter the information provided. In a logical extension to this internet protocols example, a server would receive from the client, either manually or automatically, a full context which would be information about the situation the client is in and this would allow the server to best interpret the client's request. Current internet protocols allow for formats, languages and related preferences to be expressed by clients but make no mention of what a client already knows and what they may understand. The recent Content Negotiation by Profile proposes additions to both the HTTP internet protocols and related services that allow clients to also request information - a response from the server - that accords with an identified information model. This then allows clients to indicate not just formats and languages that they understand (technically that they prefer) but also domains of discourse that that do, which is a step towards comprehensive client context provision.

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  • Tapingo

    Tapingo

    Tapingo was an American mobile commerce application that offers advance ordering for pickup and food delivery services for college campuses. The company was acquired by Grubhub in September 2018 for approximately $150 million. Following the acquisition, Tapingo’s campus-ordering functionality was integrated into the Grubhub app (Grubhub Campus Dining) and the Tapingo service was discontinued during 2019. Tapingo is differentiated from other on-demand delivery/logistics companies, such as Waiter.com, Postmates, or DoorDash, by focusing its efforts on serving the college market. Through Tapingo, users can browse menus, place orders, pay for the meal and schedule the pickup or have it delivered. On certain campuses, students are able to use their university's meal dollars to pay for food. In the spring of 2012, Tapingo first launched its services on five campuses (Santa Clara University, Loyola Marymount University, Biola University, the University of Maine, and California Lutheran University), and has since expanded to more than 200 college campuses across the U.S. and Canada, serving 100 markets. To date, Tapingo has received venture funding from Carmel Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Kinzon Capital, DCM Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures. In fall 2015, Tapingo announced expansion plans through major partnership deals with national brands like Chipotle Mexican Grill and 7-Eleven, regional restaurants such as Taco Bueno, and global foodservice provider Aramark.

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  • Toad Data Modeler

    Toad Data Modeler

    Toad Data Modeler is a database design tool allowing users to visually create, maintain, and document new or existing database systems, and to deploy changes to data structures across different platforms. It is used to construct logical and physical data models, compare and synchronize models, generate complex SQL/DDL, create and modify scripts, and reverse and forward engineer databases and data warehouse systems. Toad's data modelling software is used for database design, maintenance and documentation. == Product History == Toad Data Modeler was previously called "CASE Studio 2" before it was acquired from Charonware by Quest Software in 2006. Quest Software was acquired by Dell on September 28, 2012. On October 31, 2016, Dell finalized the sale of Dell Software to Francisco Partners and Elliott Management, which relaunched on November 1, 2016 as Quest Software. == Features/Usages == Multiple database support - Connect multiple databases natively and simultaneously, including Oracle, SAP, MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Db2, Ingres, and Microsoft Access. Data modelling tool - Create database structures or make changes to existing models automatically and provide documentation on multiple platforms. Logical and physical modelling - Build complex logical and physical entity relationship models and reverse, forward, and engineer databases. Reporting - Generate detailed reports on existing database structures. Model customization - Add logical data to user diagrams to customize user models. All Toad products typically have 2 releases per year. == Other features == Model Actions (Compare Models, Convert Model, Merge Models, Generate Change Script) Version Control System (Apache Subversion) Naming Conventions Auto Layout Multiple Workspaces Scripting and Customization Automation Object Gallery Full Unicode Support Integration with Toad for Oracle == Related Software == Erwin Data Modeler Oracle SAP MySQL SQL Server PostgreSQL IBM Db2 Ingres Microsoft Access

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  • Digital omnivore

    Digital omnivore

    A digital omnivore is a person who uses multiple modalities (devices) to access the Internet and other media content in their daily life. As people increasingly own mobile devices, cross-platform multimedia consumption has continued to shape the digital landscape, both in terms of the type of media content they consume and how they consume it. As of 2021, at least half of all global digital traffic is generated by mobile devices. == Connected devices and digital consumption == A 2015 study of digital media consumption showed that smartphones were primarily used for communication, and tablets were primarily used for entertainment – additionally, both were frequently used in conjuncture with other devices, like televisions. An earlier 2011 analysis of the way consumers in the U.S. viewed news content on their devices throughout the day demonstrated how people use different mobile devices for different functions. On a typical weekend morning, digital omnivores accessed their news using their tablet, favored their computer during the working day, and returned to tablet use in the evening, peaking between the hours of 9pm and midnight. Mobile phones were used for web-browsing throughout the day when users were away from their personal computer. Increased Wi-Fi availability and mobile broadband adoption have changed the way people are going online. In August 2011, more than a third (37.2%) of U.S. digital traffic coming from mobile phones occurred via a Wi-Fi connection while tablets, which traditionally required a Wi-Fi connection to access the Internet, are increasingly driving traffic using mobile broadband access. As of 2021, LTE, 5G, and other forms of mobile broadband access are available on the majority of mobile devices. Tablets contributed nearly 2% of all web browsing traffic in the United States in 2011. During this period, iPads also began to account for a higher share of Internet traffic than iPhones (46.8% vs. 42.6% of all iOS device traffic. == Implications for marketing, advertisers and publishers == As of 2021, the average amount of time spent daily consuming digital media was eight hours, an increase from 2020 and a further increase from 2019, partially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok, as well as other online platforms like YouTube, incorporate advertisements into the in-app or online experience, with some offering the ability to shop for and sell items through the app or website.

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